Subwoofers - Konfused in Kelowna

[Cal Weldon]

A modern HT amplifier will have a subwoofer out which has a low pass (cross-over) function applied to that

Dave,

At our age, modern is a bit subjective. My Harman Kardon HT receiver ( black ) has a straight out (two actually) for the sub, no XO, but it is about 10 years old now. Not sure if they still do it that way.

 

[discreteouts]

Their not giving them away, but....

PE has a stand alone Sub Amp . Rated(Claimed) at 512wrms@8, 1024wrms@4. It has standard inputs and a single LFE for RXs with that output. The LFE input bypasses the amps XO, so the driving RX can control those settings. I have not experienced this amp yet, but it has some favorable reviews. Infinately adjustable phase(0-180), Gain, Freq, EQ adjustments as well. Find it here.

 

[planet10]

The amp above is here:

http://www.sound-thinking.org/index.php?showtopic=772&st=15

For my needs that is excessive (i'm using 50W per side on my woofers), so i find this one more interesting

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-812

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

dave

 

[dangus]

Assuming I find a suitable amp, do I simply hook it up as Sub Out from my HTAmp to a Line In on the Sub Amp? Then I would drive the Sub from the speaker out of the Sub Amp. My understanding is that the Sub Plate Amps take care of the frequency cross over.

Like the other guys said, the subwoofer out from a surround processor or home theater is already low-passed. On some receivers/processors you can adjust the crossover frequency. If the other speakers are all defined as "Large" in the processor configuration, all that will come out of the sub output will be the .1 track (LFE - low frequency effects). Channels that have the speakers defined as "small" will direct their bass to the subwoofer output.

So, all you should need is an RCA to XLR or 1/4" patch cable. Check the owner's manual for how to wire the cable since it'll probably be going from unbalanced to balanced.

If you prefer stereo subwoofers (and the receiver has preamp outs), you could set the front speakers to "large" and use an external active crossover and power amps for the speakers and send the lowpass from the crossover to the sub amps. IIRC if you set "subwoofer" to "none", all the bass plus the LFE will be directed to the "large" speakers. That's how I used my Technics SH-AC500, since it kept it compatible with analog sources when I bypassed the processor.

The CSS BASH500 is about $240, for 500 watts/4 ohms, one channel. That's about what I paid for a used Behringer EP-2500, which does a fairly honest 650 watts into 4 ohms, stereo. New prices are a bunch higher, enough that it could make more sense just to buy two of the BASH500s, and enjoy the fact that there's no fan to make noise or get clogged with cat hair. Plate or separate, make your choice.

 

[planet10]

That's how I used my Technics SH-AC500

Does that imply you no longer have the Technics?

dave

 

[dangus]

Does that imply you no longer have the Technics?
dave

I still have the SH-AC500D, but the DTS decoder died, so I gave in to the dark side and got a Pioneer receiver last year. I've been thinking of using it for a bedroom system.

 

[planet10]

I still have the SH-AC500D, but the DTS decoder died, so I gave in to the dark side and got a Pioneer receiver last year. I've been thinking of using it for a bedroom system.

I never use DTS in mine... IIRC it requires centre and i like my 2.1

dave